Wisconsin's budget bill passed earlier this week drops a provision for public hearings to be held in advance of any cuts to BadgerCare, the state's Medicaid program. The move comes as the state is looking to trim nearly $500 million from BadgerCare as part of the state's effort to balance the budget.
But opponents of the action, which will remain in effect through the remainder of Gov. Scott Walker's term, say eliminating public hearings regarding BadgerCare cuts puts too much power in the hands of the governor. "It's a terrible precedent," said David Riemer, director of Community Advocates Public Policy Institute told the Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinal. "The Legislature just sort of capitulated." Despite removing the public hearing requirement, members of the Walker administration say they are committed to making the process of Medicaid cuts as transparent as possible. Further, any proposed changes must go before the legislature's Joint Finance Committee which can then decide whether it wants to hold hearings on any proposed changes.
The U.S. Department of Justice has weighed in on Indiana's controversial law blocking any organization, including Planned Parenthood, from using Medicaid funds to pay for abortions. The law, passed last month, mixes current Medicaid budget concerns with the decades-long debate over the legality of abortion. In a brief filed relating to an injunction sought by Planned Parenthood, the DOJ contends the federal judge in the case, Tanya Walton Pratt, should block the new law since it has the potential to limit Medicaid recipients from freely selecting the healthcare provider of their choice. The Administration of President Obama has also voiced strong objection to the law indicating it could jeopardize Indiana's $4 billion federal match for Medicaid funding.
Medicaid is spending more on medications than it needs to and also doesn't always offer coverage for the most effective medications for specific diseases. Those are the findings of a new report from the University of California San Francisco that will be published in the American Journal of Public Health. The study compared the Medicaid program's Preferred Drug Lists in 40 states against the World Health Organization's 2009 Essential Medicines List. It found the medications that are automatically paid for by the state-run Medicaid programs vary widely from state to state, with few consistent protocols or rationales for their selection, including cost, safety or effectiveness of the medication. "The United States has 51 different lists of medications that are paid for by Medicaid, and only a third of those medications consistently appear on the various lists," said Lisa A. Bero, PhD, a professor in the UCSF School of Pharmacy. "This research suggests that Medicaid could save significant money and also provide safer and more effective medications for patients by using a more consistent approach to deciding which drugs will be covered."